Williamsburg Innkeeper Blog

We left Dublin Saturday morning and drove through the midlands to the west coast for a wedding of family of friends. With it’s craggy mountains, sandy beaches and network of lakes laced together, Connemara exemplifies the peaceful solitude and rugged beauty of The West of Ireland. 

On Sunday we boarded a bus, with all of the other wedding guests, for over an hour treak to the Ballintubber Abbey in County Mayo.  Talk about a destination wedding, this 800 year old abbey was quite impressive. Ballintubber takes its name from St. Patrick-Baile tobair Phádraig – the townland of St Patrick’s well, where Patrick baptized his converts.  Did you know that as a boy of fourteen or so, Patrick was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland, orginally from Scotland, as a slave to herd and tend sheep. This was in the days of the Druids and pagans and therefore he took their language and practices.  He turned to God as a child and prayed until he escaped in his twenties and returned to Scotland, studied for the priesthood, was eventually ordained a Bishop.  He then returned to Ireland where he preached and converted all of Ireland for the next 40 years!  They say that he drove all of the snakes out of Ireland also!

If you are in IOM for the TT race make sure to book everything well in advance, after all, it is an island and the ferries sell out rather quickly.  We flew back to Dublin and then stayed at family of our friend’s house in Malahide, that truly is how hospitable the Irish are.  Malahide has a great village atmosphere, although the town is quite large, and it is located by the sea.  If you are not fortunate enough to have friends of friends that live there I recommend the Four Star Grand Hotel which is right in the heart of Malahide.

Monday was a bit rainy and visibility was a bit challenging as we ventured north through the Killarney National Park, over the Glanaruddery Mountains, and into Limerick.   It may look like a highway on the map but beware, the roads are narrow and a bit challenging at times.  Our next stop was the Adare Manor, located in Limerick.  You can’t go to Ireland without staying in a Castle.  It was an amazing resort.  The town was a bit sparce so I would recommend staying at the Manor and golfing.  Off to Dublin Tuesday to catch the ferry to Isle of Mann.

We left the farm house and drove through Bantry, which  had no available accommodations due to 2 weddings in town.  We had a reservation at a Bed and Breakfast that I think was called the Drum Loc House.  We couldn’t get by the smell as we were going up the driveway.  I honestly thought we were driving into the dump.  We were told by a local B&B owner in Bantry that Glengarriff was nice and had several B&B’s  On our way out of town  we passed the The Ballylickey House, which is were we remained for the next two nights.  Locacted just outside the town of Bantry, in County Cork, the Ballylickey house is a lovely estate home,  built about 300 years ago as a shooting lodge by Lord Kenmare.  The Graves family took over around 1940 and it has recently been totally restored and splendidly refurbished to its period. The house has a number of elegant suites with fine views over the grounds but we chose to stay in the garden cottages, which overlook the pool.  Ah, to relax in such a gorgous place and sit by the pool eating pizza and drinking fine wine. 

On Sunday we stopped in Glengarriff for gas and tea then spent the day touring the Ring of Beara on the bikes, driving all the way to Garnish Point. Lunch at O’Sullivans in Eyeries Village was fun, then through the Healy Pass back to Bantry.  The cliffs, narrow roads, passages, roaming livestock, sharp turns with steep slopes made the adventure more breathtaking in more ways than one.   The roads were initially carved out for horse and buggy so they cover only the most magnificent coastline and mountain passes.   I read up a bit before choosing the Ring of Beara over the famous Ring of Kerry and I am certainly glad I did.  I hear the later tends to be a bit crowded in the summer.

After leaving Wicklow we went to Dungarva, in county Waterford, had lunch at the Moorings then drove to Ardmore.  We stayed the night at the Newtown Farm Bed and Breakfast which is family run by Teresa and Maurice O’Connor. It was fabulous and I would  highly recommend visiting when your in this wonderful sunny south east part of Ireland.  http://www.newtownfarm.com/  Retriving my own fresh eggs for breakfast was a real treat.  Dinner at the Cliff house Grill was surperb, along with a most magnificent sunset.

We checked into the Grand Hotel in Wicklow and were quite pleased.  Wicklow is on the slopes of Ballyguile Hill which overlooks a wide bay.  This old town with narrow streets has been renovated beautifully keeping its old world atmosphere.  It is in this town that I found the best Chai Latte that I have ever had.

Wicklow is a seaport and market for an area of potato growing and livestock raising.  It was interesting to tour  Wicklow’s Historic Gaol , although it was a bit creepy. As you travel back in time, you are entering one of the cruellest, most historically shameful places in Ireland.  It was built around 1902 and the first recorded prisoner was Fr. Owen Mc Fee, a seventy two year old priest, who was convicted of saying Mass in the County contrary to the law.  He was sentenced to transportation to a British colony in America in 1716. The practice of transporting the dregs of society from England and Ireland “beyond the seas” was formalized in 1716 with the Banishment Act.  Those transported at this time were sent to the Americas. When this colony was lost to the British during the War of Independence in 1776 another destination was required. A number of options were listed and tried and eventually the recently discovered New South Wales was selected and colonized by convicts in 1788. The first Irish convicts were transported to this colony in 1791 and prisoners were sent there from Wicklow Gaol from 1796 until the 1850′s.  There were 105 Wicklowmen  transported during this time.  I understand once there they worked as servants for 7 years then were given 100 acres of land, never seeing their families again.

The Southern Coast of Ireland is everything that I would have expected and so much more. The breathtaking views, quaint villages, scenic country roads, narrow winding mountain passes with herds of sheep and goats dotting the landscape are but a few of the wonders of this magical land.

Our trip began in Dublin where we picked up our rental car, which was suppose to be included in our package at no additional charge. Upon arrival at the Dandooley Car Rental Agency at the airport we were informed that we owed an additional 300 Euros for insurance coverage for the week. They also insisted that a 1500 Euro security deposit be placed on our car immediately. While I was negotiating the contract Joe slipped next door to the Budget rental agency where cars were available. We were able to secure a Volkswagan Desiel van for about 300 Euro for the week, all inclusive. So much for a free rental car. Beware.

Our next stop was Naas where we picked up two 1200 GS BMW motorcycles from Celtic Rider. We were thrilled with the customer service and the bikes were awesome. Paul gave us lots of really great information and tips. They also have rental gear so there is no need to lug your helmets, jackets, or pants across the Atlantic as we did. Thus began our driving adventure, following Ron and Joe in our Diesel Volkswagon with right side steering, left hand manual shift, driving on the OTHER side of the road. It was quite the challenge but loads of fun. We did need to pull the mirror in few times on those narrow city roads.

After being up for 39 hours we arrived at our first bed and breakfast in Rathdrum. We checked in, turned in our B&B vouchers and left. It was filthy. For future travel we won’t make reservations in advance because B&B’s are plentiful in Ireland.

Off to Ireland in the morning…and of course we’ll be staying in bed and breakfast’s along the way. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll fill you in on the B&B’s. Should be fun!